52 Weeks of Baking: Easy Lemon Cookies

When I asked the Sugar HQ what kind of cookies I should make for this week's 52 Weeks of Baking project, BuzzSugar quickly answered, "LEMON!" I couldn't turn down such an enthusiastic request, and so lemon cookies it was. She specifically asked for crisp lemon cookies, however when searching for a recipe, I kept seeing ones that called for lemon cake mix instead. At first I kept looking for something else, but then I figured why not make it easy on myself? Why not start with a cake mix?

In the end I was really glad I did. These cookies came out fluffy and light, with a slightly crisp outside. They also come together in no time at all. To get the recipe and see my step by step photos,

Note: I added a bit of pudding to mine, it was too runny and I had to add more flour to balance it out. This recipe is the standard recipe, and should come out fantastic, I don't think there is any need for the extra pudding. However, if you want to make it exactly like I did, the modified parts are in brackets.

Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, and lemon extract until well blended. [Add pudding, if it's too runny add flour until consistency is firm enough to make balls — even if they do get flattened out immediately.]

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into a bowl of confectioners' sugar. Roll them around until they're lightly covered.

Once sugared, put them on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. [I baked for 11-13 minutes]. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.

I had studied the pictures and everything and I was so surprised it was dry too! I kept double checking the amounts of everything I used! LOL Thanks for the tips, but they really did turn out amazing with just a little extra oil. It was also so incredibly dry yesterday, so that may have added to it.
And you know what's funny? Maybe it's just luck or I don't know the difference (lol that could very well be), but I typically don't have too much trouble with the altitude. I am a new cook (my mom never let me help, so I've just started to enjoy the fun of it in the past couple years) though, and I'm also kind of a sloppy baker in the sense that I'm sure I reduce this and increase that to get the right consistency without really thinking about it. And I'm also afraid that adding flour and reducing liquid will make everything too dry! But I'm going to have to give it a go and see what happens.
Thanks for the link too! I always attributed flat cookies to semi-old baking soda! LOL I guess it's a combination thereof because when I used fresh baking soda, they turned out pretty well.

silverpenny013 - wow, i'm so surprised to hear that it was too dry. before i added the pudding it was perfect, once i added the pudding it turned to goop. if you try the recipe again, try adding pudding by the tablespoon until the consistency is okay.
also, the pudding i added is actual pudding, not just the mix.
and finally, here are a few tips for high altitude baking hope it helps!

silverpenny, do you find that you can't make recipes "by the book"? I live in Denver and it's so hard for me to cook/bake, it usually takes a couple times before I can get a recipe right (i've taken to using local cookbooks, as they have the altitude in mind). I'm definately going to try this recipe this weekend though, yum! I'm also wondering if it's just the pudding mix, or fully made pudding for the recipe...

Maybe it was my cake mix (probably it's the high altitude actually), but I found the dough to be really super dry! I added more oil (about 2 tablespoons) and I wish I'd added more lemon extract because it's not lemony enough for me... but even so, they are super yummy and smelled like heaven in the oven. Thanks for the recipe, Yum!

diana - for me it was totally trial and error, and i actually made the first batch and then added more flour.
hotpink - these are way lemony - almost artificially lemony, but tasty!
oh and i meant to say, i actually wish i had added a little lemon zest to the powdered sugar. i wanted the first hit on my lips to be lemony too!